Infrastructure damage due to roof leakage and other structural deterioration can costs homeowners significant amount of money annually. By some estimates, up to 40% of flat roofs develop problems within one year of installation due to leakage. While certain photonic integrated circuits can offer a platform for chemical and physical sensing challenges exist at the device level that prevent reliable large-scale system integration, including miniaturizing device footprint, increasing device operation bandwidth and robustness, and reducing device insertion losses.
Certain electronic leak detection technologies, which can identify breaches by monitoring electric fields set up above and below surface of the waterproofing membrane, are used to detect roof leaks. However, these technologies can require the installation of a conductive framework, such as a stainless steel or aluminum mesh, which can be difficult to install and increase the risk of puncture or other damage to the waterproofing membrane.
Accordingly, there remains a need to improve systems and methods for automated and continuous leak monitoring which can help locating breaches and monitoring building quality without significant additional effort or cost.